In the past, the ‘@’ symbol was just used to separate your email id from the domain name. Then Twitter adopted it, and now it seems to be present on the entire social media network. So what caused the evolution and the success of ‘@’? It started in the year 2006, when a freelance designer..

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Snapchat is the fastest growing app along with being an interesting marketing tool. It’s attracting many users consistently and investors love it too. The most quoted figure of its daily active users is 5 million. It is estimated that users share around 400m snaps in a day, a figure which has increased substantially in number..

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The technology takeover is here. As a small business owner, you know you can’t fight it anymore. Whether you’re excited, apprehensive, or both, you’ve decided that the best thing for your business is to get tapped into the opportunities available to you online. But where do you even start? From building your own website to..

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October is Cyber Security Awareness Month, and the Independent Community Bankers of America® (ICBA) wants consumers to know valuable tips and advice on how to be safe online. ICBA and the nation’s community banks encourage members of the public to stay informed and become educated on how to prevent their financial information from being stolen..

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Adding useful real-world elements to your brand messaging will connect your customers to your brand.   Reality marketing is customer-generated content that delights your customers.   In order to be real, you need to add elements of storytelling to your online marketing.  This is part of humanizing your brand – appealing to your customers emotions. Following are..

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If you’ve heard it once over the last couple of years, you’ve heard it a million times – if you’re marketing strategy doesn’t include social media marketing, it’s time to add it.  Even though the majority of people in the US still use traditional search engines to find anything they’re looking for online, users, especially..

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It doesn’t matter what type of business your company is, every company has to have the right online presence to bring more customers to its organization.  If you’re a company that still has only a website and a Facebook page, keep in mind that there’s a lot more to maintaining a successful online marketing presence. ..

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Social Media Marketing strategies continue to evolve and marketing professionals are constantly having to change their methods.  In addition, Google’s algorithm continues to be updated.  So it’s important to improve your content marketing strategy continuously.  Stay focused on producing high-quality content that works to engage your audience.  This way you will remain relevant in your..

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Using hashtags on #Google+ is different than using them on Twitter.  Unlike clicking on a Twitter hashtag that takes you to a different hashtag-specific stream, when you click on a Google+ hashtag it will take you to other similar hashtag posts in the stream.  Google+ will also show you related hashtags. You can also search..

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Facebook recently announced that it’s launching the ability for users to follow conversations via #hashtags.  Even though people were using hashtags before, there was no real functional value.  According to Facebook’s blog post, the company confirmed that it’s not a new idea and stated that it will be “similar to other services like Instagram, Twitter,..

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Building your business’ brand isn’t easy.  From the moment you begin thinking about starting your business, you have to consider how you want it to be perceived, who your target audience will be, and how you reach them.  Your brand is representative of your products and services.  Consumers should be able to learn everything they..

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Social Media Examiner recently released its annual Social Media Marketing Report.  The study reflects that 80 percent of marketers aren’t planning to use daily deal sites in their future campaigns.  In this study 3,025 marketers were surveyed.  The most significant points determined by this report will be highlighted in this article. There’s been a decrease..

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There are user generated groups filled with jokes about rape and domestic violence along with gruesome images of assaulted women on Facebook.  This week, Facebook announced that it’s stepping up efforts to eliminate such gender-based hate speech from its site after protesters sent around 60,000 tweets to advertisers making note of these posts.  Facebook apologized..

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Social Media Today recently interviewed Ted Shelton, a strategy consulting leader at PwC and author of Business Models for the Social Media Cloud to discuss topics that will come up at the Social Shake-Up Conference where Ted will be speaking. When asked to describe why companies should focus on how they use social, mobile, and..

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Pinterest has made a number of changes and upgrades over the last few months.  If you use Pinterest daily, a couple of these will make a significant change in your usage.  We’ve also put together a few marketing tips for this platform. Sending pins to your friends If you come across something on Pinterest that..

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You’ve set up your profiles on social platforms and you started your social marketing campaigns, but you’re not sure how to maximize your social media results.  Social media marketing will continue to evolve and trends will change.  However, there are a few steps you can take to ensure that your marketing campaigns don’t become outdated. ..

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Today businesses use social media to enhance their marketing efforts and to meet other objectives such as brand recognition, sales, increasing customer base, improving their customer service and increasing loyalty.  However, the majority of companies activate social media campaigns without a clear strategy. According to new research, 72% of businesses don’t have a clear strategy..

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Google is ready to release the much-anticipated Google Glass, wearable computers that can connect to the Internet using your mobile phone or Wi-Fi, in 2014.  With these glasses you can take pictures and HD720P video and use Google services such as Gmail, Google+ and Google Maps.  The device uses Google’s Android operating system and is..

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In 2012, it was revealed that time spent on mobile devices to access Facebook increased 85 percent, LinkedIn 114 percent, Pinterest 4,225 percent, and Twitter 140 percent.  That’s an overwhelming increase.  With 46 percent of social media users using their smartphone and 16 percent using their tablets, it’s time to focus our marketing on optimizing..

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The power of a hashtag is expected to take off and all businesses should be prepared for this.  Facebook recently announced that it would begin supporting hashtags.  Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, and other social networks have already been supporting them.  Depending on the user some words following a hashtag are written with no spaces and..

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Thousands of businesses use Twitter for micro-blogging.  Any business, large or small post short and precise updates to Twitter constantly.  Most businesses consider Twitter to be a combination of instant messaging and a chat room.  It’s somewhat of an open forum, however, businesses have the ability to limit their audience.  Regardless, Twitter is a magnificet..

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Up until a few years ago, the words “social media” and “marketing” were never used in the same sentence.  Today, marketing is not marketing without social media and networking.  Brands attain more recognition and advocacy through social media platforms.  Engaging followers and appealing to their personal senses are essential elements to successful social media marketing…

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Google announced it will be shutting down Google Reader on July 1, 2013. Google is trying to consolidate its services.  In 2011, Google rolled up Reader and Picasa under Google+.  Then in 2012, Google shutdown a lot of services.  Now, comes the shutdown of Google Reader.  Google Search continues to be the leading revenue generator..

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Pinterest’s Web Analytics is a new set of tools that will help brands analyze the effectiveness of their content and social engagement.  Cat Lee, Pinterest product manager said, “The goal is really to help websites understand what content is resonating with people on Pinterest.” Businesses and marketers have been trying to figure out how to..

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Real-time marketing is a new phrase that came about in the last month.  It’s an extension of content marketing.  Brands need to adjust to a new 24/7 marketing model, according to social media commentary.  A prime example of real-time marketing in action is Oreo’s tweet, “dunk in the dark” in response to the power outage..

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Are you ready to take your marketing campaign to the social world?  Are you wondering where to start and what type of dashboard you will need?  To implement your social media marketing strategy you will need a good dashboard.  There are several key factors that need to be considered when shopping for dashboards.  You need..

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Social Madness is a corporate social media challenge launched by The Business Review and its parent company American City Business Journals.  Social madness measures the growth of each participant’s presence on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.   The contest will be based social engagement.  The local challenge starts on June 3, 2013.  The contest will conclude..

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Many of you may be asking….what’s going on in social media marketing?  Why is it changing faster than I can keep up?   Reality is that we now have to “be fast on our feet and quick with our brains.”  This is why link building is now obsolete.  As a result of the latest Google updates,..

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Although Facebook is simple to use for most everyone, it’s not as simple for marketing.  There are a lot of reasons your Facebook page isn’t getting the fast follower response you would like.  Now that Graph Search is the new search feature, it’s even more important to use your page to engage your fans.  There..

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Are you looking for ways to increase leads and traffic on LinkedIn?  In December 2012, LinkedIn was visited by 94 million people in the U. S. This was an increase of 40 percent compared to December of 2011, according to Experian Marketing Services.  Regardless of whether you’re a B2B or B2C company, you should focus..

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Marketing requires excellent content.  Creating original content, having time to create it, and finding high-quality content are the top three challenges of content marketing, according to Curata’s B2B Marketing Trends Survey 2012 Report.   Content marketing is a major challenge for companies which is why 28 to 33 percent of marketing budgets is dedicated to this.

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Do you take the time to consider your online reputation?  Not only as an individual, but, do you consider your business’ online reputation?  It’s important to think about this before something negative happens. A few keys to managing your reputation lie in social footprints, knowing what others are saying about you, and staying positive online.

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Now that you’ve created followers on your social media platforms, you may start facing serious questions from upper management – how do these numbers improve the bottom line?  What was the ROI on this marketing platform?  Understanding social media market trends and reports will help you answer these types of questions.

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Be cautious when accepting friend requests on social media networks.  If you take a good look at your friends list, you’ll find that you don’t personally know everyone on that list.  Accepting friend requests from criminals is fairly easy to do.  In addition, it only takes one friend’s carelessness with who is added as a..

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Seven findings from Nielson and McKinsey’s Social Media Report (where consumers were surveyed to learn how they use social networks) are:  more time is invested on mobile devices, Pinterest use continues to increase, social networking produces positive sentiments, Twitter impels social television, social care is the new customer care, social ads get mixed feelings, and..

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You have a brand and message that you’re distributing through social media. In previous blogs, I’ve discussed how to use Pinterest and Instagram to successfully promote your brand image.  Promoting your story or brand image needs to be consistent with other social media platforms when marketing with video on YouTube. In accordance with my previous..

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Social Media marketing strategy is crucial to a company’s brand recognition.  Businesses need to understand social media marketing and which social media platforms to utilize.  Based on recent studies, a business’ brand needs social media marketing. The study conducted in 2012 by Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), Ipsos ASI, and Bloomberg determined there is a..

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Using Instagram the correct way can lead to brand recognition for businesses.  As previously stated in my blog, Marketing Strategy for Social Media, Instagram isn’t a platform for every business.  However, if you use it wisely, you can include it in your social media marketing program. The key to post pictures; don’t post text or..

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Whether your goal is to own your own business, become a consultant, a speaker or an author, you’ll need to start with a business plan. Even if you launched your business years ago, it’s important to revisit and refresh your plan. In recent years, the economy, technology and consumer habits have changed rapidly and dramatically,..

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Today, if you tell someone you’ll be in touch, he or she may not only ask when, but how. Modern technology has dramatically changed the way we communicate, providing multiple ways to stay connected at any time. For small and medium-sized businesses, this means big opportunities to stay competitive, provided that they understand technology trends..

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While smartphones can perform a plethora of functions, according to a recent Harris Poll survey, very few smartphone owners are actually taking advantage of the time- and paper-saving potential of their devices. Today’s smartphones can store information to make our lives more efficient – information that can be scanned to make a purchase, or displayed..

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If you’re like millions of other people, you’re checking into at least one social network multiple times a day.  The most frequently used networks are Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google + but there are many more out there that are used on a frequent basis. Although social networks provide a great way for us to..

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Nearly everyone thinks that saving money is a good idea. But hunting down deals and finding the best stuff to buy can sometimes feel like a hassle. However, now that mobile technology is here to stay, these days, shoppers can easily find what they are looking for at a great price. The November 2012 issue..

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Mobile malware is becoming a bigger problem every day. Especially now, considering some Americans use their phones more than their computers. Putting a stop to mobile malware isn’t that easy. What is malware? It’s essentially viruses or programs that can wreak havoc on your phone. Malware can cause lags and system errors, and can introduce..

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It happens all the time: The hard-working crew at a small business loses customers thanks to the sour grapes of one person. It could be a disgruntled employee, an angry customer or even a competitor, says V. Michael Santoro, coauthor with John S. Rizzo of Niche Dominance: Creating Order out of Your Digital Marketing Chaos…

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When it comes to your online habits, are you a Content King or a Social Butterfly? The difference matters to businesses who want to capture your attention on digital devices. A new IBM study of the media and entertainment market reveals that as consumers adopt an increasing number of digital devices, four distinct new “digital..

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Why are we talking about social media? Apart from the fact that today’s youth are being referred to as the ‘Facebook generation’ and that 65% of adult Internet users claim to use social media platforms? Social media has altered our interactions within our community and our perceptions of our relationships. It is in our homes,..

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According to a new study, “SocialShop,” released by Leo Burnett/Arc Worldwide, 42 percent of Americans are using social media to shop – this equates to nearly 95 million social shoppers in the U.S. – and that number continues to rise. In fact, when asked how often social media is used to shop today versus a..

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Could 2012 be the year of 5G? According to an article by FT Tech Hub, even though TV’s Ultrabooks and Smartphones grabbed headlines at the Consumer Electronics Show, there was a quieter wireless revolution taking place that have the potential to provide important connectivity benefits for all our devices in 2012.

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According to Chelsea Hejny who is a social media writer at ShortStack, creating and managing a Facebook Page for your business or organization is only half the battle. For a Page to have real value, its content needs to be seen and shared. She provides six tips to improve your Facebook Page’s News Feed presence.

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Facebook currently has over 750 million active users, and that number continues to grow steadily. According to Compete.com, it is currently the second most popular website in the world (behind Google) in terms of unique visitors, and according to ComScore, the most popular social network overall.

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I am always searching online for new gadgets, gizmos, technology and anything and everything to do with social media.  Scouring through the blogosphere is one of the things that keeps me up til the wee hours of the morning. On one of my scavenger hunts while researching for the 5th part of our How to..

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This is the second part of our 5 part series – How to get found online! How do you research and purchase products and services? Probably like most consumers do – through search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo etc. The question is this: Is your website getting found by consumers looking for you?

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Consumers are searching for your products and services online – but – is your website getting found? What has profoundly transformed the way people learn about and shop for products? The Internet! I know what you’re going to say…well, duh Sandra! However, it was only a mere ten years ago, that companies reached their consumers..

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